


Taco Tuesday

by 3amepiphany



Series: Drabbles 'n Bits [15]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gen, your abuelita's stern yet caring disappointment when you flip the tortilla on the comal too early
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 05:57:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14013672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3amepiphany/pseuds/3amepiphany
Summary: “Yes, I truly ‘Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’, because it probably isn’t,” he said.





	Taco Tuesday

**Author's Note:**

> just a little domestic jj/ota/leo thing today + a recipe, because @belugachop (tumblr, twitter) made me want to write something short and yummy.  
> http://billetdouxnondistribue.tumblr.com/post/171777618747/taco-tuesday

The blessed trouble of Taco Tuesday was the extra mile they all put into their running routines through the week after it became a habitual thing. That meant prettier routes, more music, more contemplation. The actual damnation of it was that the fridge was always a mess for a full two or three days after.

JJ’s initial idea for solving this was tying a indelible marker on an old shoelace and then taping it to the handle of the fridge, and declaring that they should use this to mark the containers they used week after week to hold the leftovers. “Yes, I truly ‘Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’, because it probably isn’t,” he said. Leo apologized with a laugh and agreed to use the marker moving forward for everyone’s sakes, because while the joy of accidentally slopping pork green chile onto his toast while still half asleep was tolerable to him, it wasn’t to JJ, who just wanted butter.

“It truly isn’t butter though, anyways,” Otabek said, rinsing out his cereal bowl and placing it carefully on the drying rack.

“He’s right though.”

“Fair.” And that was that for a good while, the marker being wiped away with rubbing alcohol as the containers were used and emptied.

It wasn’t that there weren’t any good Mexican restaurants to eat at, it was just that Leo’s cooking was superbly great and they’d rather go in on buying groceries and make a night of it. They weren’t always relegated to tacos, either. Often, Leo would serve up enchiladas, and anything that could be tucked into a corn shell could also be folded up into a flour tortilla for burritos.

Otabek was a little more attentive with warming the tortillas on the comal and eventually he learned how to fry up shells as well for the nights they wanted those. JJ was more than happy to work the ingredient prep, and grew a terrible fondness for sticks of fresh jicama covered in Tajin and “those bombass-carrots” that Leo insisted they pickle at home because it was so easy to make and they went through a jar of them every week anyways. The same went for pico de gallo and salsas. They were both impressed, though, by the fact that not every taco they had consisted of meat - nopalitos, sofritos, roasted cauliflower, and simple beans were also part of the fare and very enjoyable. It was usually a surprise to them what Leo would settle on, and they hadn’t eaten anything they didn’t like yet.

JJ was working on chopping up the veggies for the escabeche; radishes were going into the mix this evening and they were contemplating adding in the last of the cauliflower that had caused some trouble earlier that week for Otabek (“Exploding Milk Bag Wednesday” they dubbed it, as the bag the cauliflower had been in was also partially stuck under the milk pitcher, to Otabek’s surprise) when his phone rang. It was his parents, so Otabek took over the process while he disappeared to his room to speak with them.

On the stove, simmering away, was a pot of beef that would become machaca once it was shredded down. Leo had started it the moment they had gotten home from the rink and it smelled glorious.

“How did you learn to cook like this?” Otabek asked him, finally broaching the subject.

Leo looked over from where he was tossing some ingredients into the blender, to combine once they were sure they wouldn’t interrupt the phone call in the other room. “My grandma. Once you learn the basics you’re pretty set to make anything. She sees the food I make every week on my Insta and she’ll send me recipes to try to learn.”

“I think it’s great that you share them with us. Do you miss cooking at home with her?”

“I do. It’s kind of like having her here with me though. I guess that’s why I like Taco Tuesdays so much. The one thing I really, really miss though are her tamales. Those are a lot of work and the ones we can get down the way are good, but nothing compared to hers.”

“I don’t know how to make many dishes, admittedly.”

“Your pilaf’s really good. Better than JJ’s KD, but don’t tell him I said that.”

“Boiling rice and pasta is nothing. If I needed to subsist on hotdogs and frozen pizza alone over those I would.”

“Remind me to take you to Pink’s the next time we’re ever in L.A. together. Hot dogs. The best you’ll ever eat.”

“…Eating at the Leroys’ is nice but I like just being here and doing this.”

“Their kitchen is a lot like my family’s. I miss that, but I like this, too.”

That seemed to be about the maximum conversation Otabek was ready to have for the time being, and they worked the rest of the time in silence until JJ returned. “My mother wants us over on Friday for dinner. Fish is n the menu, if that’s okay with you two.” It was Lent, and Nathalie was happy to help Leo observe it with a good, Lenten, family meal while he was there training. “She also wants to give us a set of Pyrex storage bowls. I may have told her about the milk spill. And how we store leftovers.”

**Author's Note:**

> “Those Bomb-Ass Carrots” (Zanahorias en Escabeche) Recipe
> 
> Makes about 2 1-pint jars 
> 
> 8-10 fresh jalapeno peppers  
> 3 large carrots  
> 1 white or yellow onion
> 
> 4-6 cloves of garlic (or more if you’re like me and love garlic)  
> 1.5 cups white vinegar  
> 1 cup water  
> 1 Tablespoon salt (Kosher or sea salt)  
> ½ teaspoon Mexican oregano (regular is fine tooooo)  
> ½ teaspoon cumin seeds  
> 8-10 cracked peppercorns  
> 1 bay leaf
> 
> (Check your local grocery for the little packets of Mexican spices - often times these are cheaper per ounce than the bottled spices, and there’s usually a premade pickling spice mix you can use here for ease’s sake!)
> 
> Give the jalapenos a rinse and then cut into ¼ inch slices - you can also choose to seed them if you want to cut down on the spicy burn. It’s recommended to wear gloves here!
> 
> Peel the carrots and cut into ¼ inch slices, or sticks, or how you want to eat those.
> 
> Peel and quarter the onion, then chop it into thin slices.
> 
> Peel and roughly chop the garlic.
> 
> Into a large enough pot put the garlic, oregano, cumin seeds, peppercorns, and the bay leaf. Add the vinegar, water, and the salt, and the veggies. Then bring it all to a boil. Once it’s roiling a bit, reduce heat to a simmer for 10-15 minutesor until the jalapenos turn that weird drab green. (if you want your veggies crunchy don’t boil them - put them right into the jars and just boil the spices and liquids!)
> 
> Fill each jar with the veggies and then top with the brine. Pop them in the fridge to cool.
> 
> The jalapenos and carrots will have most of their flavor after a few hours of chilling in the brine, so you can eat them the same day!! These are considered a refrigerator pickle recipe - meaning you make these in the jars and let them hang out in the fridge vs canning them long term. They’ll last about a month but I’ll go through the jar in a week or so, easy. You might find that you will, too.
> 
> Optional veggies you can add in to this mix are cauliflower and radishes! They are good to add but I find when I do this i want to add about a half cup more each of the vinegar and water, and about half a tablespoon more of salt. This may make your batch a little larger so have an extra jar on hand just in case! You can also use red onion, which will change the taste a bit and turn the brine and veggies pink. Or you know, if you don’t like onion, you don’t have to use it. :)


End file.
